In the process of bidding for work, the graphic design of a submission often gets over-looked, as there are so many elements to focus on.
Co-ordinating content from many different people, including external resources, the quality of the answers, and, of course, meeting the deadline, are all extremely important factors, but impactful, and intelligent graphic design can have a subtle but extremely important influence on the way people perceive the bid document.
Perception
Producing an expertly designed bid creates an initial perception of quality before the reader even opens the submission. They can see you care about the submission and want to be noticed. Add to this a bid that is presented in a bespoke way, such as custom ring binders, and you demonstrate that quality is something you do really well, and care about enormously.
Good photography
Imagery plays a major role here too. Use your covers, inside covers and dividers to show your most relevant projects, add testimonials and accreditations. When we design bids for clients, we often add bespoke photography of the site, as this adds a personal feel and shows that you are thinking ahead to the execution and completion of the project and what it will mean to the people using it.
Charts, tables & infographics
Design doesn’t just apply to the outside of the bid. Carry it into charts, tables and infographics and it then further engages the reader and makes information much easier to understand and grasp quickly.
They say a picture paints a thousand words, and that’s certainly true when it comes to using graphics in your submission. For example, a whole page of text explaining a procedure can be condensed into a flow diagram, or interesting and relevant infographic that takes up half the amount of space, and allows you to add more information to your answer.
Below are examples of info-graphics we have created in-house for our own products. You’ll see they are eye-catching and, above all, informative, engaging and relevant.
At Propeller, we specialise in visual communication for pre-qualification and tender submissions – combining images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience to produce a specific result – creating a winning bid.
If you would like to talk to someone about how we can help you create an expertly designed submission, contact us now on 01462 440077, or via our online enquiry form.
